Three Ways to Maintain Momentum in the New Year

A new year means fresh beginnings—an opportunity to start over or plot a new course. Chances are you have some goals or resolutions at the forefront of your mind. You feel energized and motivated. Perhaps you have a solid plan in place to ensure your success. Right now, the momentum is with you. However, in a few short weeks, it will become easy to lose sight of these goals. Life will get in the way and you may become preoccupied with everyday distractions. You will run low on time and energy. Before you know it, six months will have passed and you will be wondering what happened. What happened to your motivation? What happened to that drive to succeed? What happened to all of the steps you were going to take to ensure this year would be different?

Don’t fall into the same trap in 2018. Make this year different than all the others. If you want to maintain your momentum long after the excitement of the new year has left you, adopt these three keys to maintaining your momentum in the new year.

REMEMBER YOUR WHY

We know we need to stay close to our “why,” as it is the fuel that drives us forward. But with all of the disruptions and obstacles we encounter over time, it becomes easy to lose that connection. It becomes more important to handle a time-sensitive crisis than to carry out the action steps you planned. Procrastination is a detrimental result. “I’m too tired right now. I’ll do that tomorrow when I have more time. I just need to finish this first.” Then you wake up to a full inbox and the cycle begins again.

You know what you want to achieve and why you want to achieve it, but you need to remind yourself of this daily. Also, you must do so in a substantial way, not simply at the surface level. Spend a few minutes each morning to meditate or refocus. Remind yourself why you started and spend minutes, not seconds, reflecting on this. Keep visual reminders around you throughout your day. Use photos or create a vision board and keep it somewhere that it’s visible to you. Be intentional with every task that you complete, keeping in mind how it leads back to the greater goal.

BUILD HABITS

Similarly, you must turn these actions into habits through creating a routine. Once you have a routine, it will be second-nature to do the things you know you should be doing, because it has become part of your everyday life. For example, perhaps you have some tasks that you dread completing, though they are necessary to your process or work. You may vow to stop procrastinating, so you decide that you will complete this work first every day. You will not complete anything else, no matter what, until this one task is complete. The first few days may be painful. It may take you longer than usual because you are working your way through the discomfort or inclination to switch to a more agreeable task or distraction. However, after a few repetitions, completing this task first thing in the morning will not seem unusual or difficult. In fact, it will have become an ordinary, expected part of your daily process that is your new normal. Your momentum will continue to build as a result of your newfound commitment to taking the consistent action needed to succeed.

KEEP YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE

The best way to maintain your momentum is through accountability. You are much more likely to stay on track when you have a system, person, or community keeping you accountable. Perhaps you have tried do to this yourself in the past. Though few people are quite successful at keeping themselves on task, the majority of individuals will see real results when a third party is involved. The most effective way to maintain accountability and momentum is through enlisting the help of a coach. A good coach will help you define clear and compelling goals, recognize when old patterns and limiting beliefs are threatening to derail your progress, and keep you accountable. Your coach will help you break free from these habits and keep you committed to your goals.

You may also consider joining a professional mastermind group and using your peers and colleagues as a source of support. If nothing like that exists in your area, consider starting a group or finding a similar cohort through Facebook.

It’s a new year and it can be a new you. Don’t let any past lapses or missed opportunities impact the new opportunity that awaits. Instead, use that as motivation to keep you reaching toward your goals. Remind yourself why you started, build a routine through new habits, and find an accountability partner. If you follow these three steps, you will be sure to find success in 2018.